Exercising apparatus.



m. 634,080. Patenfed on. 3, i899.

- w; 1.2 saves, in.

EXERCISING APPARATUS.

(lyplimtian M Dot. 97, 1897.)

(No man WITNESSES:

p1: mums vtrun on. mums" vnmmm'om u, c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM J. BRYON, JR, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

EXERClSlNG APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Iatent No. 634,080, dated October 3, 1899.

l Application filed December 27, I897.f Serial No. 663,535. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.- Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. BRYON, Jr.

- a citizen of the United States, and a resident 'State of Ne'w.York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Exercising Apparatus, 0f which the following description, taken in connection with the drawings herewith accompanying, is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of ex ercising apparatus in which a carrier adapted to support a weight of some character is ar'- ranged to slide upon a suitable guiding rodor rods and beoperated by a connecting-rope operating over suitably-arranged pulleys. A complete apparatus of this character, known as a double apparatus, and one that is adapted for the various forms of exercise re quiring the use of both hands, usually embodies two such carriers, each sliding on separate guide-rods and operated by separate and independent ropes. The apparatus thusconsists of two duplicate sets of parts which are adapted to be supported side by side in some convenient position. One of the objections to this character of apparatus other than the expense of the same is on account of the space which it occupies by reason'of the two duplicate parts of the same being arrangedside by side; and it has been the object of my present invention to improve this class of apparatus by reducing the number of parts, so asto cheapen the same and also to render it more compa ct,"whereby it may be set up in a very small space, say about four inches in width, which is much less than half of that re-. quired by the ordinary apparatus that is ca pable of being operated to perform the same and varied kinds of exercise. This object I secure by means of the construction and combination of parts as hereinafter set forth in' detail, and pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 and 2 represent front elevations of an apparatus embodying myinvention, showing the same arranged for different kinds of exercise; and Figs. 3 and 4 represent detail views to be hereinafter referred to.

To explain in detail, the frame of the apparatus, as herein shown, comprises two bed plates or boards a, and a, the guide-rod brackets b and b, secured upon said bed-plates, and

the guide-rods c 0, supported in a-fixed posi .tion at their upper and lower ends within suitable openings or sockets in the said brackets b andb. These several parts as described are of usual construction.

The bed-plates a and (1/, upon which the guide-rod brackets are secured, are used or provided as a convenient means for securing the apparatus in position; but it will be obvious that the same maybe dispensed with, if desired, and the brackets b and b be secured directly upon the wall or other object and the floor. v

The carrier e, which is connected with the guide-rods d 61 so as to slide vertically thereon when operated through the medium of the operating-rope, as will be hereinafter described, is, according to my present invention, especially adapted to retain and carry dumbbells as a means of giving the desired Weight or resistance to the operator, in lieu of the ordinary weights, as usually employed, one of the advantages of this being the-fact that the dumb-bells forming a part of the apparatus and being readily removable therefrom may be also used independently of'the apparatus and enable the operator to varyhis form of exercise.

The carrier e consists of a standard 6', having fixed plates e e at each end thereof. These plates c e are each provided with openings e e therein, through which the guide-rods are passed, which openings, as shown in Fig. 3, are provided with a lining a, formed offelt or other suitable material, so as to render the movement of the carrier on the guide-rods noiseless. The lower plate a of the carrier is provided with an upwardlyextending plate a on the front side thereof, which is adapted for holding a dumb-bell in position on the carrier. This holding or retaining plate c as shownin Fig.3, isvprovided with a tapering or inclined surface 6 on its inner side, which causes the dumb-bell when placed thereon to roll or slide against the front wall of the standard e, between which latter and the said inclined surface of the retaining-plate the said dumb-bell will be securely held by its own weight from backward or forward movement on the carrier. To prevent endwise movement of the dumbbell on thelatter, I have made the retainingare formed relative to the face of the standard e, so as to receive closely therein dumbbells of two different standard weights. In some cases, however, I dispense with such concave surfaces and form the said inclined side e of the retaining-plate with a fiat face.

According to this invention the carrier e is also provided with an attachmentf for holding any additional dumb-bells thereon other than the one to be held by the retaining-plate 6 This holder attachment f consists of a plate having a loose sliding connection with the standard 6, so as to be vertically movable thereon, and provided with a downwardly-extending portion or projection f on its front edge and in line with the lower retaining-plate a as shown.- In placing a second dumb-bell upon the carrier 6 it is placed upon the first dumb-bell, which is held in po sition by the retaining-plate e, and the attachmentf is then lowered into engagement with the said second dumb-bell, with its projection f in front of the latter, so as to hold and retain the same in position on the lower dumb-bell, on which it rests, as will be understood.

The holder attachment f is also provided with an upwardly-turned portion f on its upper side and at the forward edge thereof, corresponding in appearance with the holding projection f on its under side, which is adapted to retain a dumb-bell in position when placed upon the upper side of the attachment, as shown in Fig. 2.

In some instances it may be convenient or desirable to employ a' larger and heavier dumb-bell than the two-pound ones which I ordinarily employ in connection with this apparatus. In such event if the dumb-bell is so large that its ends project below the bot-- tom of the carrier,so as to strike against the bed-plate when the carrier is lowered, it may be placed upon the upper side of the attachmentfand the latter be adjustably secured in a stationary position at the proper height from the bottom of the carrier by means of a set-screwf carried by the said attachment.

The holder attachment f, as herein illustrated, is connected with the carrier in a manner as follows: The standard 6 of the carrier is T-shaped in cross-section, and the attachment f is provided with a counterpart opening f therein, so as to receive the said standard and be supported and guided thereon. In order to place the attachment in connection with said standard, I have cut away a portion of the face-plate of the latter at its lower end and at a point below the upper edge of the retaining-plate 6 as at f f in Fig. 3, and have made the said retainingplate detachable from the carrier, whereby the attachment may he slipped into position upon the standard from its said lower cutaway end before the retaining-plate e is secured in position. After the attachment has been thus located upon the standard the plate 6 is then secured in position by means of a suitable fastening-screw e and serves to secure the attachment in permanent connection with the carrier by preventing the same from dropping to a position opposite the said cut-away portion of the standard, as will be readily understood.

Iwill now describe my novel construction and arrangement of the several pulleys over which the rope h runs and operates in acting upon the carrier e when the apparatus is in use. The carrier 6 is provided with a double pulley attached to the upper end thereof, which is formed, as herein shown, with a frame 1', having the form of a loop, within which latter the two pulley-sheaves 2' z" are loosely journaled on a suitable axle. Supported in the upper bracket 1) in a line about central between the said pulley-sheaves t" 2" on the carrier e is a single pulley 7c, (the lower edge of which only appearsin the drawings,) which is'journaled on a suitable bearing in the said bracket, so as to rotate in adirection at right angles to the movement of the sheaves i i, and on the outer face of the said upper bracket at opposite sides of the pulley 7 0 are two books m m, upon which two swiveled pulleys n and n are adapted to be detachably supported. WVith the several pulleys thus arranged, as shown in Fig. 1, the rope h is run over the stationary pulley 7t, with the two ends thereof passing under the sheaves 2" t" on the carrier from the rear side thereof and up over the swiveled pulleys n and n.

The operator when exercising with the'apparatus as thus arranged may obtain any of the usual forms of exercise with the single rope and carrier as heretofore obtained by the employment of two separate and independently-acting weight-carriers and ropes. The rope 7?. being movable at its center over the pulley allows an alternate backward and forward movement of its two ends as well as a simultaneous movement of the same in one direction, and the two pulleys 7L and a, over which the rope passes intermediate of the carrier 6 and its two ends, being swiveled allows the operator to stand at any desired position or angle relative to the apparatus and have any desired swing or movement of the arms, as will be readily understood.

' In order that the apparatus maybe adjusted .all as clearly shown.

the end of the rope passes is supported adjacent to the floor or on the lower bracket b instead of on the upper bracket, as in Fig. 1, where the apparatus is arranged for what is termed upper or chest exercise, I have provided the said lower bracket or plate I) with a hook 0, located thereon in a position back of the line of the guide-rods cl d, to which one end of the rope 71. may be connected and be held thereby in a position out of the path of the dumb-bells on the carrier e, and have further provided the said bracket with a hook o in a position thereon well forward of the guide rods, to which the pulley it may be detachably connected to receive the operating end of the rope therethrough, as shown in Fig. 2.'

In changing the apparatus from the form shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 2 one end of the rope is first disconnected from the swiveled pulley n and the pulley on the carrier e and placed in connection with the hook 0', the said pulley nthen detached from its supporting-hook m onthe upper bracket b and placed in connection with the hook 0 on the lower plate b, and the loose end of the rope then carried down under the pulley it, After the pulley and the rope have been thus changed the rope at a point between the hook 0 and the pulley 7c and adjacent to the latter is passed up over the hook m, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, whereby the same will be held between such point and the hook 0 away from the path of the carrier 2 and the dumb-bells supported thereonduring the movement ofthe same.

In order that'the rope may be readily connected with and disconnected from the pulley on the carrier and the pulley a when adjusting the apparatus, as described, without removing the handles h from the ends of the rope, I have provided the loop or frame which incloses the sheave of both the pulleys n and the pulley on the carrier 6 with an opening 02, and 41 respectively, through which the rope it may be readily entered or removed.

In order to prevent any undue jar or noise that might be caused upon the descent of the carrier e by reason of the contact of the same with the plate I), I have seated a rubber buffer-plug 3;) upon the latter in a position directly beneath the carrier 6, so as .to receive the latter thereon at its downward limit of travel.

- Having thus illustrated and described my invention, various modifications may be made in the several different features of the same. For instance, any suitable means for securing a swiveled connection between the pulleys n and n and the bracket in other than the hook-and-eye connection, as shown, might be employed, or the means wherebya detachable connection between the several parts is secured be more or less modified without departure from the invention.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. The combination in an exercising apparatus, with a frame and guide-rods, of a sliding carrier operating on said guide-rods provided with a rigidly-connected support car rying two pulleys, three-pulleys supported by said frame, one being supported intermediate of the others on a stationary bearing, and the other two being swiveled, and a single rope passing alternately over the said pulleys on the frame and those on the carrier, respectively, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

2.. The combination in an exercising appathereof for detachable connection with one ofthe said hooks or eyes on the lower bracket, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination in an exercising apparatus, of a frame comprising an upper and a lower bracket, the-latter being provided with two hooks or eyes thereon, a vertically-movable carrier provided with a double pulley thereon, three pulleys supported by the said upper bracket, one of the same being detachable from the latter so as to be interchangeable from a position in connection therewith to a position on said lower bracket in connection with one of the said hooks or eyes thereon, and a single rope operating over the said several pulleys and having means at one end thereof for detachable connection with one of the said hooks or eyes on they lower bracket, the said detachable pulley on the upper bracket and the pulley on the carrier each being provided with a loop or hood inclosing the pulley-sheaves having an opening therein for the insertion and removal of the rope, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In an exercising apparatus, a dumb-bell oarrier,consistin g of a standard provided with means for retaining a dumb-bell thereon, and

a device supported to slide upon said standard provided with means on its under side for holding a second dumb-bell on the carrier, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. 5. In an exercising apparatus, a dumb-bell carrier, consisting of a standard having a dumb-bell-holder attachment supported to.

slide thereon, and means for securing said attachment in an adjustable stationary position upon the standard, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In an exercising apparatus, a dumb-bell carrier, consisting of a standard provided with means for retaining a dumbbell thereon, and a device supported to slide upon the standard, provided with means for retaining a dumb too :0 ing device is entered to be placed in connection with the standard,and a detachable plate secured upon the standard in a position to prevent the holding device being moved to a position opposite the said cut-away portion of the standard, substantially as and for the 15 purpose set forth.

- WM. J. BRYO'N, JR.

\Vitnesses: I

GHAs. F. DANE, FRED. W. DANE. 

